One of Lennon's powers is to communicate to you across time. I mean this in a very robust and spooky way. Lennon, standing in front of the microphone in 1966 or 67, cupping his headphones, is addressing you, sending you a message that is extremely direct, despite the pitch control and ADT and echo and compression and distortion and the 40+ years and the fact that Lennon is not merely dead but essentially dead, dead by definition (unlike George, who, though he often sounds as if he is reanimated or singing to you from beyond (Hilary's lyrics to "Love You To": I'll be with you babe/if you'll get in my grave), only happens to be dead). Lennon knows your language and is singing directly into your mind. He intends to do this. When he sings Can you hear me? he means Don't you fucking get the way my mind is totally present to you?
Yet lately I am more surprised by the immediacy of certain Paul vocals, sudden clear syllable-melodies alive with consciousness. Tonight one word in particular gave me chills: hourglass
"Whatever turns the soul inward on itself, tends to concenter its forces, and to fit it for greater and stronger flights of science." (Edmund Burke, preface to the second edition of A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, 1759)
2 comments:
I believe John sings two words of Penny Lane: "in summer". He doesn't clear his throat before singing or he's been singing something else all night, likely growling and yelping in 50 voices. You know he used to take his girlfriends to the graves. Whatever: I get sick of the Lennon grit myth. What interests me are: 1) that Macca flies him in just for this 2) how few syllables a Beatle has to sing to nullify the hourglass, to make all time a cozy creepy sleepover Now.
i like the image of lennon singing twist and shout without a shirt on at the end of the night.
and i also love that image of lennon singing the lead on all you need is love. where is cupping the headphones (perhaps thats where you get that imagery?) and he's chewing gum and just totally perfectly feeling the song and grooving so hard on the lyrics and the vibes. it is so right and you can feel it down into the core of your soul.....
i also like the idea of macca listening to albert ayler.....
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